Gary Player son arrested for deposit account fraud

Wayne Player, a former professional golfer and son of the legendary South African Gary Player, spent five nights in jail over Martin Luther King Jr. weekend after being arrested for deposit account fraud dating back to the 2018 Masters weekend. The 56-year-old also faces a civil suit for another case from the same weekend.

According to a report in The Augusta Chronicle, Wayne Player had rented a residence in Evans, Georgia, but paid with a check that was returned for insufficient funds. The homeowner tried to get in contact with Player but never received the remaining payment.

Wayne Player was stopped by customs agents at a layover at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport on Jan. 18 and was informed he had an outstanding warrant. However, because it was a holiday weekend, Player could not be processed and had to stay at a Clayton County detention center until the following Wednesday, when he was released on bond.

Player claims that the unpaid rent – which reportedly amounted to $2,000 – is all a misunderstanding, as he told Golf Digest:

As for the arrest itself, Player said he originally gave the homeowner a check but the bank rejected it because it wasn’t properly filled out. Player said he was contacted by the homeowner’s lawyer but merely forgot to send it back. “I’m not trying to make excuses, but that’s what happened, and it’s on me,” Player said. According to Player, all the money has now been returned, with his son footing the bill.

Beyond the arrest for fraud, Wayne Player also faces trouble from that same weekend as he and Wayne Player Enterprises LLC are facing a civil suit for selling “Green Jacket Masters Experience 2018″ in bad faith. The suit, filed by Todd Feltz, lays out what Player promised and did not follow through on, via The Augusta Chronicle:

According to court documents, the customized experience included dinner and open bar with Player, breakfast or lunch at the Founders Club on April 4 and 5, one ticket each for the Par-3 Contest, one series badge each for the opening Masters round, a daily 9:30 a.m. walk of the back nine with Wayne Player, and a meet-and-greet with Gary Player and other Masters champions at Augusta National, among many other things. The cost was $6,850 per person and all sales were final, with a 50 percent nonrefundable deposit required.

Despite the heavy price tag, Wayne Player was allegedly not able to come up with badges, which angered Feltz. According to the court documents, Feltz claims that Player head-butted him to the ground when he confronted the former golfer about the unfulfilled promises, although Player disputes that claim.